Being a Teacher During a Global Pandemic: An insight into their challenges and their opinions on these unique times
Sydney Norrie | February 5, 2021
This time in our lives is definitely one that none of us will ever forget. From masks to quarantines, D2L to Google Meets, we have all had to make drastic changes to how we live our daily lives. But students are not alone in this situation. Teachers have had to learn how to do their jobs in a whole new way. Whether you look at the new schedule teachers have had to adjust to, the new format teachers have had to deliver their lessons or even the lack of contact that teachers have had with their students, teachers have such a vital role to play in these unprecedented times. This is why we took advantage of the opportunity to interview two of The Woodlands’ very own teachers, Mr. Doret, who teaches various science courses, and Mr. Connochie, a history teacher. In these conversations, they allowed us as students to get a glimpse of what it is like to be a teacher right now and get their perspective on this strange situation.
Q: What are the biggest challenges that you are facing when it comes to teaching this year?
Mr. Doret: “The biggest challenge to this point has been getting to know the students on a personal level. One of the reasons why teaching can be so much fun is because once I get familiar with the students at a personal level, I can tailor my classes to as many students as possible to try to make the classes engaging for all parties. Right now I'm teaching with a one size fits all approach to education, which is not the best way because students do not learn best under these circumstances. How can I have all 30 students hopefully engaged in a lesson while giving the proper information over the screen?”
Mr. Connochie says that his biggest challenge has been managing all of the technology. It is very difficult to teach a class when the wifi is not working or the videos won’t load. It has been a challenge to make the lessons engaging and cover the content on a whole different platform. In addition, he emphasized that making content interactive has been a challenge. Mr. Connochie says that the question has become “How do you keep the students engaged with the content and interacting with you and each other? For me, I’m not very techy so that is something that I struggle with.”
"Teaching really is more about relationships than it is about giving information"
Q: Has this year changed your perspective on teaching? If so, how?
Mr. Doret: “It's made me realize how important relationships are with students. When I first started teaching, in all my classes I was getting right into the information early on, and then I realized I wasn't getting to know anyone at all, and the students weren't getting to know me. This means they weren't potentially going to put in the effort because, you know, as students if you like the teacher, you'll do more work for that teacher. So it’s all about building relationships and this year we're just not doing that. Teaching really is more about relationships than it is about giving information.”
Mr: Connochie: “It has made me love the classroom a lot more and see the opportunities for group projects, class discussions... and I really see the value in those things. In the online environment, it can be difficult to do those things. For me, it is an appreciation for what I had.”
Q: There have definitely been many changes in the way you teach and in the daily routines of both you and your students. What part of a regular school year do you miss the most?
Mr. Doret says that he misses extracurricular activities the most. “When I coach all the sports that I do and when I run the committees then I get to know your personality outside of being a student, and that's the best part.” He coaches ultimate frisbee and volleyball, plays a role in running the SHSM Health and Wellness Program, and helps out with SAC.
Mr. Connchie: “I think just being in a building where there are students and interacting with students (is the part I miss most). Seeing all of the activities going on in the school and the life of the school, you miss all of that. A big part of teaching is, yes, the classroom and the material but it’s also engaging with the students and seeing the school spirit. International Bazaar for sure - for me that was always a fun day. And, even though I’m not part of The Prefects or SAC I always like to see what the kids are able to come up with. You guys are very creative and I miss seeing your achievements.”
Q: Have you found it more difficult to get to know your students and how has that impacted your experience when teaching?
Mr. Doret: “When I was teaching my students in my classes in person, I found it a tad bit easier to get to know them. Now that we're doing primarily online I'm not getting to know them as well. So although the hybrid method was not the best, at least I was getting to know people in class a bit more.”
Mr. Connochie: “Yes, for sure. For me with history, the way you connect with kids is you share something from yourself and they are going to connect with that and maybe share something from themselves. Or they are going to be able to connect with it from their own experience. The technology creates obstacles from doing that. I definitely do not know my students as well as when we were in the school.”
"Seeing all of the activities going on in the school and the life of the school, you miss all of that."
Q: Would you say the quadmester has impacted your difficulty to get to know the students?
Mr. Doret: “With the quadmester system in person, I got to know the students (when they were in class) but not to the regular level as a semester system, because I wasn't spending as much time getting to know people.”
Mr. Connochie: “For sure the quadmester had made an impact because I don’t have as much time with the kids so the time does make a difference. For me though, it is mostly due to the technology. Just because you can’t really connect, I mean you can’t even see them.”
Q: Have you found there to be any silver linings in this hybrid/online model?
Mr. Doret: “The only thing that's gotten better from this, to be honest, is not having to drive into work. In terms of my job, everything is not as good because it's not as fun. I still love my job, don't get me wrong, but I'm not getting to know you guys. And that's the best part of the job.”
Mr. Connochie: “Being able to have coffee with my family, not having to go outside. Today was freezing cold and I was really happy that I didn’t have to go outside and brush off the snow. I think it definitely makes you revisit your curriculum and revisit your teaching and add value. So I guess the silver lining might be that I am paying more attention to that this year. I really try to think about what the essential things are (that) I want them to remember.”
"I hope people realize the value of schools and being in the classroom. The classroom experience is hopefully something that is going to be much more appreciated."
Q: Do you see teaching or education changing in the future because of the changes that have happened this year?
Mr. Doret: “I do see it changing. I don't necessarily agree with what it's going to be changing into. What I mean by that is everybody can learn online but that's not the fun part nor the interesting part. You learn best as students in science doing hands-on labs and then coming up with questions for why your lab did or did not work. If you do these labs on the computer, you'll get the perfect answer every single time. And you’re missing the questioning on why they did or did not work. So I believe education can go more online right now. But I also believe it's going to cause more harm than good. For two reasons. Number one, the relationships. Number two, the lack of curiosity. By just simply either watching others do the experiments or getting the perfect experiment results every time using the computer.”
Mr. Connochie: “It’s hard to say. I hope people realize the value of schools and being in the classroom. The classroom experience is hopefully something that is going to be much more appreciated. Hopefully, the push for online education that was there before, with some of the problems with technology that have occurred as a result of going online, will make people more committed to supporting classroom learning. That is what I hope will come from it. This is from someone who is not very good at leveraging technology. Maybe if I was better with technology I would think that this would revolutionize how we teach children and we are going to use these platforms and it is going to be more technologically focused. For me, I am kind of hoping for the opposite.”
Hopefully, you have gotten a little bit of insight and appreciation on what it is like to be a teacher right now. Their views and experiences are similar and allow us as students to get a sense of what teachers are going through. Through the lens of Mr. Doret and Mr. Connochie, we can see that, without a doubt, teachers are experiencing many of the same struggles as students, if not more. And this is not restricted only to everyday work. Their struggles with missing extracurriculars and school events are shared with the rest of us. The challenges with technology are something that we are all experiencing universally. And just like our teachers, we are all enjoying being able to avoid the daily commute to school during these harsh winter months!
Article posted February 20, 2021. Thank you to Mr. Doret and Mr. Connochie for participating in the interview.
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